My crafting space
Hello everyone :)
It's been many months since I last updated this blog and Facebook page but school and work came in the way and I had to put all my crafting on hold for a couple of months. It was hard not creating anything but time was limited and I didn't have how to dedicate not even an hour.
Nevertheless, autumn came and we got into some sort of a normality where I finally had time and I felt inspired to start stamping and coloring and ink blending and all the good stuff. :D Nevertheless, in order to keep my table clean, I bought a big storage plastic box and kind of churned everything in there at the end of the day. This was not working so well because as I started to figure out, I couldn't find anything anywhere and all my papers were all scattered in there, plus I was throwing stuff in the drawers of my small office as well - safe to say it was all a bit mess.
I thought about how I was going to organize all my supplies (which are not a lot, compared to other crafters) for about 2 weeks. It could have taken less, but during this time, I was walking into various stores and supermarkets (Bilka, Tiger, Søstrene Grene, Jysk, etc) and I was getting inspired by different box sizes, and baskets and trying to imagine how can i make all these fit into my crafting corner as well as being as functional as possible. So I started buying plastic containers, open folder bins, small baskets and even a long flower planter to start organizing everything. At one point before that, I thought of organizing my few stamps in plastic sheets in a binder but I didn't like the bulkiness of it all, and that I had to take them all in order to choose one, so I had to find a different solution.
Given that I didn't have many things to start with, it only took 2 days, but aside from the organizing part, it was also a discovery process, where I got excited for all the things I had bought a long time ago and didn't use for a very long time due to them being lost in drawers or that big box I was telling you about.
In the photo below you can see how my corner looks like now and I am very happy with it, given that in order to actually start crafting, I can take everything to the table in front of my desk and then put them back in as they were very easily.
I don't have a lot of space for my not many supplies but I made them all fit nicely. On top I have my mostly used supplies like my acrylic blocks, mostly used inks, adhesives, tapes, glues, scissors, bone folders, wooden ink blending handles etc. I put all these into a small pieces box I got from Lidl from which I removed the lid to make it more practical. And when I craft, I usually move this box next to me on the stacked chairs you see there in the bottom left corner of the above photo.
Next to those I have a jar with pencils and other pen supplies and a Pringles jar with pencils :D
Next to these you can see in the photo below I have my envelopes and card bases and most importantly my stamps which are stored in Avery Elle storage pockets I bought from Hobbyboden Scrapworld. These are amazing and to start with I have placed some cardstock just to be able to see the clear stamps when I was going to put them in. The black container they are all stored in is actually as I was saying before a long planter from Tiger. After I have placed all my stamps into these storage pockets I took one of them with me and went to shops to see where they would fit best. And when I got to Tiger, they were fitting perfectly in there so I had to buy it.
Because the planter is a bit raised I was able to stack below my MISTI stamping tool and my Kuretake paints (you can't actually see these in the photo) and the Fiskars trimmer on top. In continuation of the planter, in the corner, i had bought 3 open document folders (not sure what the actual name for these are) where I arranged my papers in 3 categories - Essential Cardstock (Neenah Solar White, Neenah Desert Storm, Panduro Black, Panduro Grey and Vellum), Colored cardstock and Patterned Papers. As you can see from the photo, in front of these folders I have 3 containers with my mostly used embossing powders, as well as three Mini Distress Storage Tins. And this is what I have on top.
In the drawers then, the 4 that this desk has (i don't know where it is from, it came with the apartment), it is a different story. I once bought a rather small basket from Jysk because I saw online a nice idea about how to store ribbons in a functional way. But while reorganizing I saw that this didn't work for me because my ribbons have different types of packaging. So I just decided to throw them in this basket and placed it in my drawer just to realize that it fits perfectly in there with another one exactly the same and with a little bit of space to space in order to be taken easily out. I went back and got 7 more and now my drawers are ordered by function and mostly used. And if I need something I just take the whole thing out and browse through and then put it back.
Replacement adhesives and bits / Tools
Stencils / Painting supplies
Ribbons / Embelishments
Shaker stuff / Label Maker
Finally, underneath the desk, i have the original big box filled with some magazines and bits of material I plan to use on future cards and two smaller boxes with unused containers and scrap paper that I usually take next to me in case I need them. I also have a smaller box where I keep my cards.
And this is my small crafty space which I love, but I do dream from time to time to have my own crafting room, but I try to keep it real and acknowledge that I do not have that many things yet to justify getting an entire room.
Until then, I am so excited with this space and how easily it is maintained. After I make a project and have everything on my other table, it only takes 2 minutes to put everything back together.
Thank you for the patience to read this long post but I hope that it gave you some ideas for how to organize stuff when you do not have a lot of space and want to decrease clutter.
Have an amazing weekend all,
Teo
